The Fearmakers

The Fearmakers is a 1958 American film noir crime film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Dana Andrews.[1] The screenplay is based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Darwin Teilhet. The fearmakers has been described as an "anticommunist" movie.[2] It has also been pointed out the movie leans heavily on the issue of "the power of people who control our ideas".[3] The film centers around how seemingly nonpartisan political messages are being shaped by a PR firm which is secretly controlled by communists whose real goal is the undermining of the United States.[4][5]

The Fearmakers
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJacques Tourneur
Produced byMartin H. Lancer
Screenplay byElliot West
Chris Appley
Story byDarwin Teilhet (novel)
StarringDana Andrews
Music byIrving Gertz
CinematographySam Leavitt
Edited byJames Whittredge
Production
company
Pacemaker
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • October 1958 (1958-10)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Korean War veteran Alan Eaton (Andrews), who suffered through brainwashing as a P.O.W., returns home and resumes his job at a public relations-opinion research firm in Washington, DC. He finds things aren't quite as he left them. His partner has been killed mysteriously in an accident. He discovers that his company has been taken over by Communist infiltrators intent on fixing public opinion polls and promoting Communist organizations. To stop them, Eaton cooperates with a Senate investigation.

Cast
  • Dana Andrews as Alan Eaton
  • Dick Foran as Jim McGinnis
  • Marilee Earle as Lorraine Dennis
  • Veda Ann Borg as Vivian Loder
  • Kelly Thordsen as Harold 'Hal' Loder
  • Roy Gordon as Sen. Walder
  • Joel Marston as Rodney Hillyer
  • Dennis Moore as Army Doctor
  • Oliver Blake as Dr. Gregory Jessup
  • Janet Brandt as Walder's Secretary
  • Fran Andrade as TWA Stewardess
  • Mel Tormé as Barney Bond

See also

References
  1. The Fearmakers at the American Film Institute Catalog
  2. Invasion USA: Essays on Anti-Communist Movies of the 1950s and 1960s edited by David J. Hogan, pg. 189
  3. Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall By Chris Fujiwara pg. 257
  4. Screen Enemies of the American Way: Political Paranoia About Nazis, Communists, Saboteurs, Terrorists and Body Snatching Aliens in Film and Television by Fraser A. Sherman pg. 54
  5. Hollywood's Cold War By Tony Shaw pg. 49-50


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